Centers brings in Ben Crenshaw for annual fundraiser

Published 6:44 pm, Thursday, July 9, 2015

Photo: Associated Press

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Centers brings in Ben Crenshaw for annual fundraiser

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The history books will report Ben Crenshaw as a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Texas, two-time Masters champion, captain of the 1999 Ryder Cup team and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

However, if you talk with the proud Texan, it is easy to feel he would be happy to be identified as the son of Charlie and Pearl, husband of Julie and father of Katherine (27), Claire (23) and Anna (17).

Family is meaningful, Crenshaw said in an interview with the Reporter-Telegram, the foundation for life. And Crenshaw will speak about family, golf and his ties to Midland on Aug. 6 during “An Evening with Ben Crenshaw,” presented by Centers for Children and Families.

The event will take place at the Horseshoe Pavilion, and Crenshaw is excited to see “his Midland friends” and expects “the people in Midland will hear a lot of golf stories.” Crenshaw will also talk about the importance of family and what it has meant to him. He told the Reporter-Telegram this week he “can certainly speak about those infinite ways my mother and dad helped me, not only lay a foundation for meeting people in a social setting but in the cultivation of friends. In my formative years, I can understand why people gravitated to my mother and dad, because they were affable and pleasant.

“Obviously we learned from them and learned a disposition that we thought was presentable to other people. ... I am lucky to have two loving parents. My brother, sister and I have all said if we can do half as good a job as they did raising us, we would be on the right track.”

Crenshaw said parenting is more difficult in this age of information where everything is going so quickly and children have “all these happenings at (their) fingertips.” He said it is still up to parents to guide their children in any way they can.

“Kids are learning so many different things at (a) younger age,” Crenshaw said. “Their access to all this information is wonderful, but it can be debilitating as well.”

A Midland connection

You get the feeling that if Crenshaw resided in Midland today, “Gentle Ben” would have no problem fitting in. Despite being raised and still living in Austin, keeping it weird just doesn’t appear to be his style. He rattled off the names of Midlanders who have been influential in his life, names like Bill Munn (a “dear friend”), Randy Geiselman and George Tucker. He also recalled playing in the Wildscatter golf tournament at Midland Country Club in 1972. Crenshaw speaks fondly of former President George W. Bush, who Crenshaw said he first met in the early 1980s at Midland Country Club, and through the University of Texas and through Bush, Crenshaw met former Commerce Secretary and UT System regent Don Evans.

“There is not a finer human being than Donnie Evans,” Crenshaw said. “One of the great things in my life to watch was seeing George Bush through his political career and have friends like Donnie Evans right by his side. You can certainly understand how much Don meant to the president all throughout his career. To watch that up close was one of the joys of my life. I can tell you that.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing friends I haven’t seen for a while,” Crenshaw said. “I enjoy Midland. It is a wonderful place.”